


Fitness Testing

by blueydenim



Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: 5am but not quite, Gender-Neutral Runner Five, I've done tags in advance, Light Angst, Mostly light-hearted though, Other, Really a competition but Maxine doesn't want to admit it, Reflecting on the pre-apocalyptic world, S1M19 Spoilers, Time Trial, athletics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27588749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueydenim/pseuds/blueydenim
Summary: Fitness testing is tedious and boring, but for Abel, one particular test brings the whole township together. When the 5000m time-trial turns into a fun Olympic-style race, Five can't help reminiscing a long-lost ambition they once had. Can Five manage to pull a win, or will troubles from their past slow them down?Takes place between S1M19 and S1M21.
Relationships: Your Interpretation - Relationship
Kudos: 3





	1. Champion of The World

**Author's Note:**

> I have decided to break this up into many small chapters. The rest are coming soon (once I'm not so busy).  
> Sorry for not actually getting into the race yet. Hope you don't mind a bit of Five's backstory so far.

_"There is absolutely no way on earth that Runner Four is faster than Runner Five!"_

I was grabbing on to the wired railing on the side of the track, swinging my legs back and forth as I recalled this episode of Radio Abel.

_"Any time, any place, my money’s on Runner Five."_

He may have had a chance at getting any money back if we were in my prime years of high school athletics, where I was training five sessions a week and (somehow) medalling at state-level competitions. Believe it or not, those were the easy times of my life. I didn't have to rely on talking to make friends because my legs did that for me. Those were the years before I had to put an end to my Olympic dreams to spend hours studying for a university course which I didn't even like.

Actually, it was probably the whole university experience that I hated. It was probably all those people at College that constantly snickered every time I came within a six-foot radius to them and started whispering to each other, probably something like _oh_ _look, here's the kid who can't talk._ Or maybe it was that I never got to race again because I had the flu during the trials for the College athletics team.

For the first time in five years, I was racing again. Well technically, it was just a fitness test, which Maxine had reminded us of a solid thirty-one times. But this particular 5000m time trial seemed to be some sort of event that brought the residents of Abel together. The audience stand was packed with restless children and their parents waving banners and posters around. Standing at the opposite end of the track, I could barely make out what any of them said, but together they formed one beauty of a rainbow. Amid the crowd, I saw Ed and Molly with a poster too. From a distance, I recognized the stick-figure running man drawing, looking strikingly similar to the one that Molly drew in a letter they sent me a couple of weeks ago.

I also noticed Janine setting up the automatic timing systems at the finish line. Jody told me that she created these herself to _avoid future arguments about the test during missions_ , which was a consequence of Simon and Sara almost getting bitten by crawlers one mission because they were too caught up in an argument about who won the 5000m last time.

Finally, the Radio Abel guys had set themselves up behind the 100m starting line. Jack was eagerly taking his seat at the commentator's table whilst Eugene was next to him, tampering with the PA system.

I'd call this a race. Watching Abel's best runners (possibly the best in the post-apocalyptic world) compete against each other was probably the closest thing to the Olympics the children could get. It warms my heart to be able to give them a sense of one of my favorite past-times.

The last thing I expected from the apocalypse was to be back in my element again. My life had entirely changed (not for the better) the moment I decided to walk away from athletics in tenth grade. Yet, here I was, doing dynamic stretches and my pre-race routine on the side of the track as if I never left in the first place. And on every other post-apocalyptic day, I'd be running too - just running for my life, instead of on the track. After all, my title at Abel is 'Runner' Five.

The more I ponder this, the more I start to believe that maybe, just maybe, _I was destined to run._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of 5am content and spoilers from S1M19 coming in the next chapter...


	2. No Judgement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that the race still hasn't started yet. Five needs a little 'pep talk' from their favorite radio operator.

"Five!"

Sam paced towards me, smiling and waving at me as enthusiastically as ever. I couldn't help to notice that he was wearing a _dark_ _red_ short-sleeved t-shirt. I'm probably just too accustomed to his bright orange hoodie and neon-colored shirts. I used to believe that he chose these colors so that we could easily spot him in a crowd, but I guess that saying _'what you wear is what you are'_ explains this. It certainly explains why on the other hand, I only ever wear dark colors.

However, the moment I see Sam, his positivity and cheerfulness seem to almost instantly radiate onto me. I could probably say the same for a lot of other people at Abel, like Maxine, the Radio Abel boyfriends, Jody, Simon, and the list goes on. But there's something different about Sam, that when I can see or hear him, I feel... safe?

I'm not sure if 'safe' is the right word. Whatever the word is, it should explain how I subconsciously began jumping up and down, waved both my hands above my head, and smiled goofily back at him.

"Five, how are you?" he asked, panting as he finally caught up to me.

"Not too bad," I answered him with one of those instinctive responses I use way too many times.

It didn't seem to bother him, though. He found a section of fence near me and leaned on it. "It looks like you're all warmed up and ready to go after doing all your leg swings and lunges and all those other professional exercises."

I just laughed quietly, hoping that my attempt at reliving some moments of my childhood didn't make it look like I was taking the race much more seriously than anyone else.

Sam grinned. "Am I right to say that 5K is almost nothing for you? I don't want to sound rude or anything but I'm guessing you'd be used to much longer distances with all the missions you go on. I- I mean, it's incredible that all you runners do that every day. I wish I could run all the time and I really do admire you all."

I felt a gush of comfort breeze through me as he said that last sentence. It's nice to have an operator who is extremely fond of all his runners.

"Th-th-thank you," I respond, as my cheeks began feeling noticeably warmer. My chest started to tighten at the thought of what I was about to say next.

I took a quick, deep breath. "I-I-I... I admire you... too. I wish I could, could be like you."

"Five, I'm just a really clumsy guy who landed the role of radio operator because that was the only thing that would convince Janine to let me into Abel," Sam laughed, somewhat grimly. "But you runners... you risk your lives out there every day! Especially you, Five."

I didn't think Sam realized that _he_ was both my verbal map and instruction manual in all these high-risk missions. Without him and his voice guiding me, I'd probably be dead. This wasn't it, though. There was more about Sam that I envied.

"I-I wish I could talk. Talk to people like you do," I admitted. "I wish I didn't, I didn't.... ssssstutter."

Damn, that word has always haunted me almost as much as any zombie in the apocalypse and saying it to anyone was like my chest was being sandwich pressed. Sam Yao was no exception.

I noticed a concerned look growing on Sam's face. His mouth was slightly open and he was scratching the back of his neck as if he was figuring out how to respond to that. As I shifted my gaze to the ground in front of me, I felt his hand on my shoulder.

"I don't think anyone really notices your stutter," Sam says. I looked back up to him, knowing that it was not true.

"Well, actually we kind of do. But what I mean is that no one really thinks much about it, because Five, _you are so much more than your stutter._ You're an incredible runner, and you're brave and kind, and funny, and you're always putting others before yourself."

I began feeling tears at the corners of my eyes and focused really hard on holding them back. And this meant holding back the social terrors of my past too. But when a chatterbox like Sam was just silently standing next to me with an arm around my shoulder, I knew it was time to let him in.

"My-my-my parents said- my parents said sssssstutters make me seem s-s-suspicious. And that n-no one wants to be, to be friends with me be-because of that. And being- being ssssocially awkward... doesn't help with that."

"That's not true!" Sam exclaimed, dropping his arm that was around me. He clenched his fists as if he was about to punch someone. "I don't care how right your parents are with everything else, but that is so not true Five! You might not realize it, but people at Abel are fighting over being your best friend. And Simon and Jody always, every day, complain about how Sara gets to go on so many runs with you."

"You know what?" He continued. "Yesterday, at dinner, Jody was going on about how nice you are and how you were the only one who stayed back and helped her clean up the rec hall after that games night you runners had. And Chris used to always talk about how you're the ideal assistant for his experiments and that you're the only one who seems interested in what he was actually researching. I guess that's why he chose you to fulfill his last wishes.

"Anyway, what I'm saying is that we all think that you're amazing, Five. Not just because you're a good runner, which you definitely are by the way, but because you're just so wholesome. And your stutter doesn't make you any less wholesome. And if anyone can't see that, they're clearly just blind and ignorant!"

As I felt a tear run down my cheek, Sam pulled me into a warm hug. He squeezed me gently as the side of my face rested on his t-shirt. And at that moment, everything was okay. Every criticism I had ever received seemed to just dance straight in and out of my mind whilst I was fixated on the comfort of his embrace.

He leaned down and whispered in my ear. "Whatever happens today, I'm proud of you, Five."

"Thanks," I responded. "I'm-"

"Hey there, lovebirds," a voice came from beside us.

Sam and I pulled away and turned around to find Maggie and Jody walking towards us.

Jody laughed mockingly. "You guys actually responded to that?"

I wasn't quite ready to say anything to that yet, so I just shot the two an angry look.

"Yeah, we did. We wanted to see who the two-annoying people were, falsely, calling us 'lovebirds,'" Sam admitted sarcastically.

Maggie pouted. "Woah, no need to get defensive."

"And FYI, Five and I are not dating," Sam continued, ignoring her. "She just... needed a bit of moral support."

That seemed to be the cue for Maggie and Jody to stop pestering Sam and me. They were both now looking at me sympathetically.

Jody smiled and patted me on the back. "Aww, we can help with that, Five. Why don't you come with us for a warm-up lap around the track? We'll take it easy, so you'll be fine for the race."

I nodded. I was about to do a warm-up lap anyway before Sam approached me. "Sounds good," I affirmed.

"Well, I'll leave you guys to it, then. Good luck with the time trial," Sam waved as Jody, Maggie, and I headed to the track.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think Jody and Maggie will gossip about with Five in their warm-up run?


End file.
